Customer Reviews

Cass Elliot

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This 1972 recording is one of Cass Elliot's best original albums, with Cass sounding confident & at the top of her vocal powers with this great material. It's the album that Cass wanted to make, & a new sense of freedom is found here , with Cass in her element of doing what she did best - singing a good song. It's the first album where Cass used Cass Elliot , and not Mama Cass.

There are a number of stellar songs here - California singer/songwriter songs like JESUS WAS A CROSS MAKER, DISNEY GIRLS and CHERRIES JUBILEE that Cass just feels so comfortable singing. Ballads like WHEN IT DOESN'T WORK OUT, where Cass has a light jazz touch & soars at the end. I THINK IT'S GOING TO RAIN TODAY is amazing, and the arrangement has a soulful backing . Other artists did this song, but Cass really nails this song, & offers a definitive version on this album. There's also some pop songs of the 60's like BABY I'M YOURS, IT'S ALL IN THE GAME & I'LL BE THERE [ the Bobby Darin song ] that are nice too. THAT SONG is an original song with an old-time melody & catchy chorus. Cass combined contemporary 70's soft pop & a wistfulness of old evergreen sounds on this album. For me, this album & her first solo album DREAM A LITTLE DREAM [ 1968 ] hold the essence of Cass' remarkable voice.

This CD was re-issued on RCA in 1988, and sound wise is great!

Cass Elliot's first solo recording for RCA was a giant departure from her earlier solo work for Dunhill/ABC. The performances and production were more mature, and she proved herself an effective interpreter of AOR material. Finally hearing these songs digitally remastered, I am struck by the nuances in Cass's vocals. The program opens with a definitive cover version of Randy Newman's classic "I'll Be Home," and her rendition of Newman's "I Think It's Going To Rain Today" is no less effective. There is a great Leah Kunkel (Cass's sister) song, "When It Doesn't Work Out," and a searing cover of Judee Sill's song "Jesus Was a Cross Maker." One of Cass's enduring traits as a singer was her ability to convey emotion. If you need to be convinced, listen to her plaintive delivery on "Disney Girls."

This album shows the direction Cass was headed in as a vocalist, and (I think, anyway) she delivers everytime.